ADP is an excellent foundation for your sales career. The company offers solid benefits, great quality of life, and famous sales training. The compensation is decent but top performers do very well. While working at ADP you will work with hard-working, talented individuals that genuinely care about your development. Management quality varies by region (my leadership team was great) and business unit - e.g., SBS is known for micro-managing while Majors and Nationals are more collegial. In addition, there are numerous routes for your career at ADP if you buy into the culture and mission. At ADP, you will truly become a better sales professional if you commit yourself to being successful.

Cons

Parallel to the pros of working here, ADP is known as " sales training for your next job." - i.e., ADP trains its salesforce well but struggles with retention. Basically, other companies heavily recruit ADP reps and will offer highly-attractive compensation packages. While ADP's benefits are good, many perceive the benefits as a "carrot on a string" - e.g., 401k and stock awards don't vest to you until after 2 years of continued service. Leadership will tell you that you can make amazing money due to uncapped commissions. This is true if you are an elite performer; however, across the board you can make more money elsewhere (and recruiters know this) and to get to elite level it takes many years of time invested. Going to the highly-coveted Presidents' Club used to be strictly based on revenue sold but now there are several restrictions such as blanket "unit gates" that are easily achievable in some markets and extremely difficult in others. Furthermore, ADP sales is a sign-and-move-on type of sale. There is no residual income. Deal-slinging hustlers will love this type of role but relationship-builder sales types often get frustrated over time. It's no mystery that this type of sale is a grind. Some of the biggest challenges in selling at ADP are poor client service support (you will constantly have to deal with client issues), horrendous implementation due to overworked/understaffed implementation teams (keep in mind your commission comes down if a new client doesn't continuously process for 6 months or never starts); and lack of product innovation (competitors are offering the same thing for less expensive). Much of this red tape significantly distracts the salesforce from driving more sales. The ADP brand perception is slowly deteriorating in the marketplace due to these issues. Executive-level management recognizes these problems but ADP takes a really long time to make changes and sometimes employees wonder if fixing these problems is truly a top priority. For this reason, ADP does a great job on the front-end (i.e., training, culture, etc) but slacks on the back-end (i.e., client support, internal red tape, etc) leading to employee turnover. You will meet many great sales professionals at ADP; some will grow within the company and many will move on.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Leadership, please address the 3 major problems listed above. Ex-ADP reps continuously say these are issues that drove them to consider other opportunities, yet they never seem to get fixed. Make your weaknesses your greatest strengths! Being a SAAS company, your technology alone is not winning deals. Clients want great service as well. Spending more money in service and implementation would save you a ton of money in both client and employee retention. Also, decide what level of talent you want by adjusting compensation accordingly. Both your competitors and companies outside your industry are offering noticeably better compensation packages, yet you continue to believe that "uncapped commissions" will keep top reps when selling ADP is becoming more and more difficult.

ADP is a financially-conservative organization. This has contributed to the fact that they don't have to layoff a lot of people like you will see other big companies do. They compensate their employees fairly and have an excellent 401k match.

Cons

Employees are often expected to "do more with less". This can result in employees being overworked because management is unwilling to backfill positions. Unfortunately, this is the downside of being financially-conservative.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

ADP suffers from the bureaucracy that is common in many big companies. Cooperation between different departments is at times hampered by the fact that those departments have different motivations. It would be nice to see everyone willing to work together for the good of the client. Attempts have been made to do this but are often overridden by differing financial motivations.

Current Employee - District Manager Human Resources/BPO Sales in New York, NY

Current Employee - District Manager Human Resources/BPO Sales in New York, NY

I have been working at ADP full-time (more than 5 years)

Pros

ADP has offered me a promising career in sales, backed by world-class training and support from sales management. But the job is not for everyone - you must treat your sales career at ADP as the owner of your own ADP franchise and take ownership and accountability of your performance. Hunters with a entrepreneurial spirit will win, because they are backed by a superior product delivered by an industry leader.

I started at ADP in SBS Sales (solutions for employers with under 50 employees) and was given an historically weak territory to start. You might hear from other reviews that opportunities are not distributed fairly - but those are just excuses for failure. I struggled at first but once I proved my ability to sell, my territory and overall sales opportunity was improved immediately (managers want to put the best players in the best territories - this is a business after all)

Compensation plans are competitive with the industry - but most importantly, are tied to performance standards and the company's overall growth strategy (example: Unit requirements for president's club tied to marketshare growth) - The people who find a way to win are never complaining about their W2.

I have since grown from SBS Sales to HR/BPO Sales - after I recognized a growing opportunity and took the initiative towards that position. You must be in the driver seat of your career - the resources for growth are there if you look/ask for them.

I now run my own business at ADP - yes I have a quota and a manager to answer to, but if you demonstrate your ability to execute on corporate initiatives and produce results, micromanagement will be non-existent and you will find yourself making your own hours and enjoying a work/life balance.

Again, sales is not for everyone, especially in this organization. But if you have what it takes and are looking to sell for an industry leader that empowers it's sales people with the training, support, and sales tools - then ADP is a great place to start.

Cons

Navigating the politics that come with any sales environment can be difficult. Especially when your career aspirations and your direct manager's interests may not be aligned. Don't be afraid to reach out to individuals in other business units, and more tenured sales reps for mentorships (yes, you have to be willing to ask for help)

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Maintain your industry leadership position so your salespeople can continue to push the best product in the market.

This is a company that has everything figured out. The leadership is amazing, and I've learned so much from my coworkers. This internship and the notoriety of ADP created so many opportunities for me to start my career. There are many women in leadership positions, and the company is extremely socially responsible.

Cons

The well-established career path at ADP does not allow a lot of room for lateral movement. ADP is a fairly conservative, traditionally corporate company, and the company culture isn't quite what want to do long-term.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Keep up with the positivity! Continue to hire and encourage interns. Possibly consider outlining potential career paths to interns so full-time positions are more clearly laid out.

Great flexibility between work/life balance and remote/flex options.Individuals are allowed and encouraged to define their own success and come up with improvement initiatives.Good, friendly corporate culture where everyone wants to do the right thing.

Cons

Like all large corporations there is a lot of internal miscommunication and a lack of a unified cohesive vision that is driving all business agencies.Some groups can suffer from a lack of management and leadership.Employees can operate with not much accountability regarding their productivity.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Get on the same page and foster a collaborative environment among senior leadership.Focus on long term strategic thinking instead of day to day operations.

Join ADP for a live virtual recruitment fair on March 25th from 1-4pm EST. Visit the ADP booth and chat live from your computer or mobile device with ADP Hiring Managers and Talent Acquisition Specialists. Register at: http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vIffz

Join ADP for a live webinar about sales opportunities on Tuesday, March 10th at 12pm PST/3pm EST. Register Here: http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vIf2H Hear our ADP Associates describe what it's like to be part of our sales force - the training & development and the tools & technology that set you up for success, earnings potential with uncapped commissions, the amazing rewards & recognition and the career opportunities. Unlock You Career Potential